Three-dimensional (3D) printing provides a way of quickly producing prototype devices and there are many different 3D printing technologies which may be used, including stereo-lithography, selective laser sintering and fused filament fabrication (FFF), which is also referred to as fused deposition modeling (FDM). Although fabrication of a prototype using 3D printing is rapid compared to conventional techniques such as injection molding, it can still take many hours, depending on the size of the object and the maximum size of prototypes that can be formed is limited by the printing envelope (or tray size) of the 3D printer.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known 3D printing systems.